Published Tuesday, 06 December 2011
After his first-round win over Adrian Gunnell in the UK Championship on Monday, Allen was outspoken in his criticism of veteran promoter Hearn - accusing him of rebranding snooker to be more like darts.
"The players don't really matter, so **** the players," Allen said, at a post-match press conference.
"I don't think he's pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn't one of them."
A statement from World Snooker released on Tuesday read: "Following Mark Allen's use of inappropriate language in his press conference at the williamhill.com UK Championship, he has been referred to the World Professional Snooker and Billiards Association's disciplinary committee as he is in breach of tournament rules and could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute."
Allen's main cause for concern seemed to be the altered format of the tournament, after early round matches were reduced from 17 frames to 11.
Whenever Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championships, UK and Masters wouldn't be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed.
Mark Allen
Accusing Hearn of looking to "make money for himself", Allen called for him to resign.
"He needs to get away from the darts factor," he said.
"It's not all about bringing people in to watch and have a good time, shouting and having a drink - it's getting close to that.
"I think in the long run he'll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation. It's time to let someone else have a go."
World Snooker's statement continued: "World Snooker's governing body, the WPBSA, expects its members to behave in a manner which is appropriate to their status as professional sportsmen.
"At a time when our sport is growing fast on a global scale and we are encouraging greater participation among young people, we expect players to be role models and take the issue of their behaviour very seriously.
"World Snooker will make no further comment until after the disciplinary hearing."
Hearn - who is out of the country, but has previously defended his format on the strength of crowd enjoyment and television coverage - may give his response to the resignation call on Tuesday.